Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [111]
Vao’sh waved one finger. “But they were not just slain, no. Each of their bodies was bleached utterly white. The expressions on their faces, from the lowest soldier kithman to the septar himself, looked as if they had all seen something so unbearable that it quenched the Lightsource within them, darkened their very souls, and stole every spark of life from their minds.”
He looked around slowly, meeting every set of eyes, lowering his voice to a chilling tone.
“We know now that deep in the black Mouth of Space, those ships were the first to encounter the Shana Rei: creatures that live shrouded by shadows around dead stars. Their civilization had sucked all the light out of that area of space. We do not know what that exploration team did to anger the Shana Rei.
“Not long afterward, the creatures of darkness emerged and began to spread their shadows. Thus began a time of stories too fearsome to share here. It was our Empire’s most terrible conflict—until now, with the hydrogues.”
Anton looked at the gathered listeners, all of whom appeared uneasy. Vao’sh had used familiar talespinning tricks, but his resonant voice and the emotions displayed on his lumpy face added a depth to the frightening scene, even though there hadn’t been much of a plot. Ildirans just weren’t good at this sort of story.
Anton realized he was the only one smiling in the audience. The others seemed particularly uncomfortable to hear this part of the Saga of Seven Suns. While humans could listen to campfire tales and ghost stories with a shudder, knowing they were mere clever fictions, Ildirans believed in the truth of every portion of their epic.
“Thank you, Vao’sh. A very well-told tale,” he said, and his voice seemed to break the tension. The old rememberer looked to him with an appreciative nod.
Before the other Ildirans could utter a nervous sigh of relief and turn back to their meals, they heard a loud muffled bang. Moments later, from beneath the domed city, came the thump and rumble of a second explosion.
Designate Avi’h stood up. “Now what is this?”
The generators stopped, cutting the power. All the lights went out, and blackness swallowed the entire city of Maratha Prime.
Chapter 55—DAVLIN LOTZE
While Rlinda Kett unloaded the necessary supplies and took aboard seven volunteers who wanted to seek their fortunes on an untamed Klikiss world, Davlin walked alone to the main colony settlement, head held high. It was time to admit who he was and what he had done, and hope his former neighbors accepted him back among them.
When he had lived here before, the people had liked him, and he’d pretended to feel the same…or at least it started out as pretending. None of them ever guessed he was a “specialist in obscure details” assigned to study the evacuated Ildiran settlement here. Davlin determined that the Ildirans had left nothing behind, however, and the Chairman had eventually called him secretly away, presumably much to the shock of the remaining settlers.
If they had somehow learned that he was a Hansa spy, they must have wondered if he had kept files about their private lives. A spy was a spy. Davlin braced himself for well-deserved censure. But if he intended to live among them again, he had to be honest. Would they ever forgive him?
Now he entered Crenna’s small meeting hall and administrative offices, rehearsing again how he would explain himself to the mayor. Originally, the mayor—a chubby, bronze-skinned farmer named Lupe Ruis—had taken care of bureaucratic matters in only a few hours a week. Lately, as the colony prospered, running the settlement had become a full-time job.
When Mayor Ruis saw him, however, the man’s wide face split with a grin. “Davlin Lotze! Welcome home. We’ve all been hoping for your return.” He opened his arms and stepped forward, full of good cheer. “Is your secret mission completed now?” He sounded conspiratorial…and delighted. “We’ve heard about all the important work you do for the Hansa. And here we thought you were just a run-of-the-mill colonist like the rest of us, but you